Berezovets: Annexation of Crimea brought down RF economy

Economic sanctions are not the root cause of Russia's economic problems.

KYIV (QHA) -

The occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014 contributed to a sharp deterioration in the economic situation in the country, a political scientist Taras Berezovets said in his interview with a QHA correspondent.

The annexation of Crimea has cost the Russian economy $ 200 billion (a direct loss). Western economic researches suggest that in fact the sanctions are not the root cause of Russia's economic problems. Just the events associated with Crimea served as a kind of trigger that brought down the economy and turned the negative trend in catastrophic one for Russia,” Berezovets said.

The political analyst also noted that the provocations the Kremlin makes on the peninsula in order to discredit Ukraine also cost the Federation economy large amounts, which also worsens its position.

“Each such provocation costs Kremlin tens of billions from the Russian economy. Of course, the more such absurd provocations are conducted by Russia, the better chances of retaining the sanctions and declining in Russia's economy,” said Taras Berezovets.

As QHA reported earlier, the economic publication Bloomberg announced that the Russian economy could continue to shrink due to the statement by the Kremlin on the "Ukrainian sabotage" in the occupied Crimea. The experts of the publication say that the recent developments on the peninsula will undermine investors’ confidence in Russia, strengthen the outflow of foreign capital and maintain the EU and US sanctions.

Russia occupied Crimea in 2014. The Ukrainian Parliament set the official date of Crimea’s annexation as February 20, 2014.